Sunday, September 25, 2011

On Locksley firing

New Mexico Lobo football coach Mike Locksley getting fired on Sunday shouldn't come as a surprise.

He had a long list of off field issues, culminating in Saturday's episode with a minor — who claimed to be a UNM recruit — driving Locksley's SUV under the influence of alcohol before the Lobos played Sam Houston State in Albuquerque.

The fact the team lost to Sam Houston, an FCS school, seems almost irrelevant at this point.

Sure the Lobos have been bad the last three years — very bad actually.

Locksley took over for Rocky Long — who I thought did an excellent job at UNM. Locksley talked about adding another digit to the scoreboard — a way of touting his offensive philosophy — and there was talk of his recruiting prowess.

None of it happened — the team went 2-26 in his two-plus years at the school.

But the off field problems was a big elephant in the room — punching an assistant coach during a meeting, a sexual harassment lawsuit, and other brushfires along the way.

Administration can look past poor performance on the field if they believe in the coach — they can always cry for more time to build the program, more experience, more recruits, patience.

What they can't cry is ignorance, or look past repeated egregious behavior.